Ad Community Slaps Down 'Ad-Free Blog' Movement

Yesterday we shared our opinion on the Ad-Free Blog movement commenting "until aliens land and introduce an entirely new economic system, advertising will continue to make the world go 'round." Today, the inimitably more adamant Bucky Turco has weighed in on the topic, sending a letter to the folks over at Ad-Free Blog writing, in part, "The whole reason a lot of brands are going online is because they like the openness and frankness which the blogs bring. I mean look at Gawker for Christ sake. Huge blog, lots of advertisers, and their editorial wall is thick like the Great Wall of China. Not to mention it forces brands to come up with quality stuff or they will get slammed, whether they are paying customers or not."

While the effort was not well received within the ad community, there's no doubt the two people behind Ad-Free Blog, Keri Smith and Jeff Pitcher are fine human beings. After all, Smith is an accomplished author and Pitcher is a devoted musician and artist but, as Turco points out, they aren't marketers, "Again it [Ad-Free Blogs] is a good idea for someone who knows nothing about the subject, but the bloggers will definitely call you on your bullshit. Key is keeping up a strict editorial wall and attracting and selecting only cool advertisers that get it. And trust me, plenty of them "get it."

While we might all be uppity over the effort these two have launched, everyone, after all, is entitled to their opinion.

Don't tell the world not to advertise on their blogs but then be shamelessly promoting your marketing partners and selling your crap on your own bloggy-style websites. At least, don't think you can get away with it without BlackEleven ripping you a new one.

Posted by: BlackEleven on January 25, 2006 5:57 PM

We've received comments like BlackEleven's on Stay Free's post about Ad Free Blogs, and I don't get them. Unpaid references to things you are selling on your site or other sites/media you are associated with aren't ads.